Dragon Boat Festival (端午节，Duanwu Jie) is a traditional Chinese holiday to commemorate the life and death of a famous Chinese scholar, Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan lived during the Warring States Period, 战国时代, and became famous in China for his work on the Chu Ci, one of the most famous collections of ancient Chinese poetry. Qu Yuan made many great contributions to Chinese poetry and became concerned about the future of his country. Eventually, the capital of Qu Yuan’s state was captured, and he wrote his final poem and committed suicide by walking into the river holding a heavy stone. The villagers tried to save him by taking their boats and dumplings into the river, but they were too late. The villagers decided to throw their rice into the water and they hit the water with their paddles and beat on drums to keep the fish and evil spirits away from his body, and as a food offering to his spirit. One night, Qu Yuan’s spirit returned and asked his friends to wrap their rice into three-cornered silk packages to keep the dragons away.

During this holiday, many people eat rice dumplings (粽子 zongzi), drink realgar wine (雄黄酒 xionghuang jiu), and race dragon boats. The three-cornered zongzi became a traditional food during this holiday, but now they are wrapped in leaves instead of silk. As well, the act of racing dragon boats to find Qu Yuan’s body became a tradition of this holiday. Many other people will also hang up pictures of Zhong Kui, a guardian, and also perform other acts in order to keep away bad luck and evil spirits. The picture of Zhong Kui is hung on the door of people’s homes. It is also traditional to throw bamboo leaves filled with cooked rice, to remember the villagers throwing rice in the river to protect Qu Yuan’s body.